Podcasts about esourcing

This week we're taking on a very relevant topic in today's marketplace. Given the current supply chain crisis and geopolitical instability, what better time to speak to a guest from a unique eSourcing solution? Alan Holland, CEO of Keelvar, is here to tell us how AI can offer something more immediate, spot and transactional, in these unstable times when agility matters. Keelvar - bot technology for spot sourcing Alan begins by giving us a rundown of Keelvar - who it serves and how it works. Alan explains how his background in a university computer science department inspired Keelvar, and how his knowledge in AI has enabled him to develop a platform for sourcing excellence, that scales to any size of transaction. Recognising the importance of data... finally! Alan got into procurement after watching his PhD students making requests from chemical companies. It was a chaotic process, and as a computer scientist he identified it immediately as a data problem: Much richer information needed to be collected from suppliers, and data processes needed to be much more efficient. He explains a win/win situation here - with both buyers and suppliers benefiting from richer, more detailed data. This was how things got started for Keelvar. Optimising spot sourcing, as opposed to long-term tenders I ask Alan about Keelvar's unique focus: Optimising spot sourcing. Using ocean freight as an example, Alan begins by explaining what makes Keelvar stand out from its competitors. On the one side, there are strategic sourcing events that take a long time (often months) to complete. For these, Keelvar stands out by offering the most flexibility and detail. The other major challenge in ocean freight is change - be that rates, network requirements or ports. Every day you're going back to market with mini tenders to adapt to these changes. Keelvar has sourcing bots that can automate this process, and provide great flexibility in customising this automation. We talk about the difference between ocean freight and other areas such as consumer goods, highlighting how much flexibility and agility matter in an ever-changing marketplace. Predictability vs flexibility in ocean freight Many freight handlers reward predictability through their pricing. I ask Alan how Keelvar, which by nature doesn't provide that kind of predictability, can still create value when it comes to ocean freight. Alan explains how this capability is embedded in the sourcing bots: When requests come in, if there is predictability in the demand pattern, then that is gathered at the request stage and shared with the carriers. How does Keelvar deal with charges at port? Alan explains that each of Keelvar's customers has great flexibility in how they want to design their bid sheet. Each sourcing bot asks for different things. If you determine that port handling fees are cost elements that should be included in the overall offer, carriers can't submit a bid without including those fees. What is the biggest win offered by Keelvar? Is it cost, data quality, simplifying processes under one source of truth, or a mixture of all three? Alan thinks it's a mix of all three, but that time saved is the main thing - with one customer saving 93% of the time and workload required for these mini tenders in ocean freight. He sees this as Keelvar's top benefit. But other benefits included process consistency, and savings as a result of being able to approach a large number of carriers in parallel. Keelvar makes this kind of scalability easy, allowing you go out to many more suppliers and generate competitive tension in the process. Keelvar is also fast - there's no time spent waiting for someone in procurement to kick off a mini tender process. How does reporting work with Keelvar? All the big data is collected online, so it's not on spreadsheet. The bot then uses a chat interface with a human approver to offer a choice of available options: From...

Procurement plays an extremely important role in ensuring that you have the right raw materials at the right place at the right time. They are also responsible for the S&OP planning, which is the hardest to master, and misaligned S&OP functions could significantly impact the top and bottom line. And they are often left behind when it comes to their technology needs. They are also an afterthought in the organization in creating sophisticated procurement processes that will have tangible financial results. But what do procurement professionals need to perform their duties? Is ERP enough? Or do they need more? Where do systems such as P2P, CLM, Spend Analysis, Supplier Discovery, Supplier Information Management, eSourcing, Contract Management, eProcurement, eInvoicing, Supplier Management fit in the architecture? And how to design an architecture that allows companies to create process boundaries between these systems and share information while maintaining a single source of truth.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss procurement information architecture. We covered many grounds, including stories related to the different systems that procurement function needs and the role of MDM and CLM in the architecture. Finally, we discussed the vendor collaboration required at the various stages of the order lifecycle, starting from the design, procurement, finance, and production.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Market Dojo Co-Founder and Director, Nick Drewe discusses all things Suite vs Best of Breed with board level procurement expert, Jordan Jansen.Timeline0:00​ - Introductions2:20​ - Definitions of Suite & Best of Breed6:00​ - Why now for Best of Breed12:46​ - Advantages & Disadvantages of Best of Breed19:57​ - Concerns of using Best of Breed tools & how to overcome them32:27​ - Customer Service at Suites vs. Best of Breed41:10​ - How to find Best of Breed tools44:11​ - Advice on Suitability of Suite vs. Best of Breed51:00​ - Deployment of Suite vs. Best of Breed52:43​ - Cost of Suite vs. Best of Breed56:04​ - How does Best of Breed attract & retain talent01:00:43​ - Best practice for eSourcing adoption01:04:40​ - Wrap up

Jacob Larsen is the man (and the brains) behind the "Moneyball for Sourcing" concepts that have electrified our industry.  He's also a preeminent expert on the role that technology can play within a procurement department. As the Director of Digital Procurement at Maersk Group, Jacob was an earlier proponent of our own eSourcing 2.0 doctrine and has arguably managed and overseen more eAuctions than any professional working today. His background brought him to CPO Rising years ago. His new book, A Practical Guide to e-Auctions for Procurement brought him to Procurement Rising.

Innovation never stops. Alongside the tools that are making manual processes digital, there are also a new breed of tools which are fundamentally changing the way we go about our job.  How we structure and carry out tenders hasn't really changed much over the last 20 years. E-sourcing tools have been around since the late 1990s, and have been pretty mainstream for the past 15 or so years (I used them myself way back in 2003)! There are a lot of cool apps out there that are disrupting the old-school world of procurement. One of these concentrates on simplifying, shortening and using game theory to influence the outcome of sourcing activities.  Bid Ops was recognised for its disruptive contribution to the procuretech space when it won Best Startup award at the 2019 Digital Procurement World conference in Amsterdam. This week, I interview Founder and CEO Edmund Zagorin on how they've grown, how Covid-19 has changed the landscape and how they're growing despite cuts to procurement and IT budgets through an innovative business model that delivers value from day 1 to their client base. Making e-Sourcing Faster and More Effective using AI and Game Theory: Edmund Zagorin from Bid Ops2:09 Bid Ops recently won the best startup award at DPW 2019.  So, has that propelled growth for BidOps, or is it more down to Covid-19 and everyone needing to deliver more, faster, and with fewer resources? 5:42 I ask Edmund how does BidOps differentiates itself from a standard eSourcing tool e.g. SAP Ariba for large organisations, or MarketDojo and RFP360 as a more accessible, cloud based solution for all businesses. We talk about “Best-in-Breed” cloud based solutions and how the “unbundling" of procurement tech is niching down into more specific applications focusing on one specific area. 12:47 BidOps straddles the two niches of being an eSourcing tool and also a platform to utilise AI for simulation of negotiations. I ask Edmund what he sees as being the biggest challenge here, and whether he sees a move-away from more traditional ERP systems for managing RFQs and tenders. Edmund's answer about using technology for Sourcing versus using it for P2P optimisation is an interesting insight. Sourcing offers so many opportunities beyond traditional automation and digitisation of operational and transactional practices. 18:15 Budgets are tight right now, so I ask Edmund to tell us a little about how Bid Ops has tried to combat this with a more innovative pricing model. 23:00 It's a bit of a hornet's nets from a legal perspective when you work on a gain share model. How does one prove a saving? Because not everything has a last paid price… 25:58 Edmund talks about having to do more with less, and how using gain share to enable immediate implementation of a solution without a lengthy budget approval process is allowing teams to drive results faster. Especially in times where headcount and budgetary constraints are a very real issue for many procurement teams. 27:07 How to deal with sceptics: how is Bid Ops able to distinguish and differente itself from some of the more traditional e-sourcing tools which some of us in the procurement space have had a love/hate relationship with over the years?  There's a great discussion here about how mutually de-risking the first quote and using game theory in negotiations can lead to a more successful (and shorter, more convenient) outcome from sourcing tenders. 32:17 Finally, I ask Edmund the best way to get in touch to learn more about Bid Ops.  If you're interested in giving this tool a try, as a certified partner I can also help you learn more about what it can do and connect you to the Bid Ops team for a demo. How to connect with Edmund: https://bidops.com (Bid Ops website) https://www.linkedin.com/in/edmund-zagorin-41291b13/ (Edmund's LinkedIn profile) Send Edmund an Email How to connect with James:...

"How to Procure a Dinosaur"Peter Smith hosts our first podcast of 2020, alongside Market Dojo’s Co-Founder Alun Rafique and special guest, Procurement lead at London's world famous Natural History Museum, Andy Davies. In this episode, the team discuss the topic on everyone's lips, COVID-19, how Market Dojo have reacted to the pandemic, the importance of procurement in a crisis, human rights within supply chain, and of course, how you might go about purchasing a dinosaur.Market Dojo are a UK based software company offering Software as a Service built by procurement professionals. Our solutions allow the streamlining of procurement to obtain real value and mitigate risk. This is achieved through easy to use, yet capable eSourcing and supplier engagement applications available on-demand or with enterprise licensing.

Peter Smith hosts our Christmas special, alongside Market Dojo's Co-Founder Alun Rafique and Senior Business Development Manager, Pete Glass aka Procurement Pete.The guys discuss their 2019 procurement highlights...and lowlights, the top 5 gift buying mistakes with a link back to professional procurement, Alun's haunting Christmas memory and Pete's poorly sourced Game of Thrones Christmas jumper.Did you spot Procurement Pete's hidden pun?We are a UK based software company offering Software as a Service built by procurement professionals. Our solutions allow the streamlining of procurement to obtain real value and mitigate risk. This is achieved through easy to use, yet capable eSourcing and supplier engagement applications available on-demand or with enterprise licensing.

Acquisitions, Deliveroo, a new procurement book from a familiar author and 10 ways to fiddle your procurement savings…Peter Smith and Market Dojo Co-Founders Alun Rafique and Nic Martin discuss the latest procurement news, discuss upcoming procurement events and how to best measure procurement performance.We are a UK based software company offering Software as a Service built by procurement professionals. Our solutions allow the streamlining of procurement to obtain real value and mitigate risk. This is achieved through easy to use, yet capable eSourcing and supplier engagement applications available on-demand or with enterprise licensing.

Global Trade Wars, Gender Pay Gaps, Brexit and Sex Lairs...Peter Smith and Market Dojo Co-Founders Alun Rafique and Nick Drewe discuss the latest procurement news, draw comparisons between change management and Machiavelli's 'The Prince', as well as exploring how procurement departments can best manage change when implementing sourcing software.

Hosted by Peter Smith.Peter Smith and Market Dojo CoFounder Alun Rafique discuss procurement news, review "A Licence to Play" a new procurement book and explore how organisations can best get started using technology to support their sourcing. We are a UK based software company offering Software as a Service built by procurement professionals. Our solutions allow the streamlining of procurement to obtain real value and mitigate risk. This is achieved through easy to use, yet capable eSourcing and supplier engagement applications available on-demand or with enterprise licensing.

Today Buyers Meeting Point welcomes back two of our previous guests: Anya McKenna is the Marketing Manager for Market Dojo, an eSourcing provider based in the UK, and Ed Cross is the co-founder of Odesma, a business advisory firm also based in the UK. In March, Anya and Ed joined me to discuss their posts asking the question ‘Are Procurement Professionals Stuck in the Stone Age?’ Today they have returned to discuss a post that brings their love of sport to bear on procurement: What procurement can learn from sport. Ed is an IronMan triathlon competitor and Anya has been training in Olympic weightlifting for over a year. And that’s not all… Anya and Ed have brought Harry Wiltshire with them. Harry is Ed’s fellow Ironman competitor and coach. His accomplishments include being ranked as one of the top 25 triathlon competitors in the world, being shortlisted for the Olympics, and representing the UK in a number of international competitions. He also found time in there somehow to earn a law degree. In this conversation we discuss: How to balance the thrill of accomplishment and achievement with the frustration of failure in sport and businessThe critical role of coaches and mentors and how to make the most of their wisdomHow to avoid becoming a "complete tactical numpty" in the execution of a carefully crafted strategy

Today Buyers Meeting Point welcomes two guests: Anya McKenna is the Marketing Manager for Market Dojo, an eSourcing provider based in the UK. Ed Cross is the co-founder of Odesma, a business advisory firm also based in the UK. Anya and Ed have recently published a couple of posts that take a bold and honest look at business technology in general, but with a particular focus on procurement technology. Part 1 and Part 2 of Are Procurement Professionals Stuck in the Stone Age? are available on the Secret Diary of Market Dojo blog. In this interview we discuss: Why there does not appear to be a huge demand amongst B2B customers to secure simpler easier systems. Why we should start to expect that our SiaS - Software IS a Service - rather than an opportunity for providers to sell consulting services on top of licenses.The role that big analyst firms play in B2B technology comparisons, and whether big tech, emergent tech, analysts, and users can achieve alignment.The extent two which solutions like Uber, Amazon Business, Airbnb, and Procurious owe their success to sleek design elements and user experience versus incorporating the right set of functionality.

eSourcing, the process of obtaining bids from different suppliers via a single online portal, has many benefits. Learn the benefits of eSourcing and how to get started today.